We are deeply distressed by the failure of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) to lay charges against the correctional officers at the Central East Correctional Centre (CECC) after the death of Soleiman Faqiri.
On December 15, 2016, Mr. Faqiri, a 30 year old man with schizophrenia, who was caged in a segregation unit, died after being brutally restrained, beaten, shackled and pepper sprayed by at least six armed guards. A coroner’s report revealed more than 50 signs of “blunt impact trauma” on Mr. Faqiri’s body, including on his neck, at the time of his death. Further, that the multiple traumas were likely the result of the restraint.
Rather than receiving the treatment he required, Mr. Faqiri was segregated and subjected to intrusive and violent mental health interventions. We stand with Mr. Faqiri family, and condemn the violence that is perpetrated against Black, Indigenous, and other racialized Canadians.
